I hope you are so far enjoying my website’s new look, especially the view from Sally Gap of the mountains and the lake near my home. My face has almost returned to normal… some bruising yet remains but I heal fast, even at my age.

We are planning Christmas, and I’ve almost got my shopping finished but I had a large box in on Tuesday morning of new quilting fabrics from the nice people at Equilter and we’re going to town with our own special handmade gifts for special people. Carol Ganly, who is my current minder, is also interested in quilting and we’ve been taking lessons in Bray every Thursday. We each finished the quilt which was the work and tuition of our first classes. Good fun and something to show for the sessions!

I whiz about supermarket aisles now in my Rio3 scooter. After I’d banged my face so badly, I used to tell little kids who were staring at the bruising that my scooter had dumped me, which did happen. The Life and Times of an Author are fraught with unusual things…

We’ve had some horrendous wind storms lately and last Sunday, when it cleared, my daughter Gigi, her husband, Geoff and my one grandson, Owen, took a walk to see how extensive the damage was in the forests surrounding their property. When they returned home, they found the worst damage was in their own driveway. A large tree had fallen right into Gigi’s Merc, totaling the car by smashing the hood. The roof was at level with the steering wheel which was bent to one side, and all the windows in the car were crushed, including the rear and the trunk. She has been on record with the Forestry board about removing some of the trees around their property to reduce the possibility of wind damage. At this point she has won her case and instead of waiting until the spring, the Forestry people will clear cut back some 50 yards, letting in more sun among other things! This will perhaps also keep the deer back so they aren’t always browsing and eating the buds off plants in the summer.

So there’s some news, for what it is. I see Eragon is made into a movie and opening soon. Many kind fans have emailed me concerned about the use of “dragonriders”, but there is no need for concern — after all, mine was one of the original quotes on the hardback when it was released!

Along those same lines, Peter Jackson is taking Naomi Novik’s wonderful Temeraire stories to Scotland, which hopes much good will be done them as it was by Lord of the Rings for New Zealand. My Pern film is moving along, carefully but smoothly under the wise guidance of Copperheart Entertainment.

I hope that all my readers see the right parcel under the Christmas trees and that everyone has a good start to the new year!